Although surprised, I must have smiled at this little boy confessing to me. But what’s the big deal? Yurik hadn’t even hit puberty yet, and his voice was angelic.

He was tall, but his face was still childlike and cute, and his actions were too. Whether my laughter seemed mocking to Yurik, his expression was not good.

“It’s because you’re cute! Being cute is… good, right?”

I made a belated excuse, but Yurik’s expression remained the same.

“I’m not cute. The cute one is you, Lise.”

“Then both of us are cute. How about that?”

“I’m not cute.”

“Okay. Then only I’m cute! And Yurik. Thank you so much. I’m so happy that you like me. And… I know it’s greedy, but I hope you don’t hate me in the future.”

“Lise, that’s not greed.”

“You never know human relationships. They can be twisted with just a sheet of paper, and when we become adults and enter society, we’ll naturally drift apart.”

It would be better if it was forgotten. Isn’t having only good memories and recalling them later quite a successful relationship?

While thinking to myself, Yurik’s hand, which still held my wrist, tightened.

“Yurik. Ah, it hurts.”

“I… won’t forget you.”

This time it was not cute.

Yurik pulled my wrist to his mouth and kissed the back of my hand. As his lips touched, a tremor ran through my fingertips. Looking at his face with his eyelids down, my body stiffened.

“There will be no distance between us.”

“……”

“Never.”

I couldn’t laugh.

“Ah.”

I was happy. I was happy, but… my heart was heavy.

“You have to keep that promise…”

“Huh?”

When I muttered too softly to hear, Yurik asked again. I had no intention of repeating it.

“I think it’s really time to go now. Yurik.”

Yurik reluctantly continued to fiddle with my fingertips.

“Then Lise, come play at the mansion again after the holiday.”

“Yeah.”

“In a few weeks, let’s go to the sea as promised.”

“Yes.”

“And if you’re bored on the Monday when the vacation ends, come here. I’ll be reading a book here.”

Yurik and my hands were completely separated. But Yurik’s gaze held onto me until the end.

“Goodbye.”

“Goodbye.”

I headed to Bitie, who had momentarily left my side, and he went to Duke Fenton’s house.

I came out of the forest and walked across to the Marsen mansion. Throughout the way, Biti kept asking me curiously about the conversation I had with Yurik.

This time was different from before when she would worry if I said I was meeting Yurik. Biti fantasized that Yurik and I might like each other. I always denied it, but Biti didn’t even think of listening.

“Huh? Something must have happened?”

Biti said as she looked at the mansion gate. The servants who were inside the mansion were gathered outside. Feeling something strange, I hurried to the gate.

“Miss?”

The servants spotted me.

“What’s going on?”

“……”

“What’s the matter? What happened?”

I approached the gate and asked the motionless servants. Their faces were all pale, and I felt my heart constrict.

“Why are you not speaking? What’s going on?”

The maids were for some reason reluctant to speak. I looked suspiciously around the mansion, but nothing was wrong. What could it be?

“As the family is all gone, I am the one responsible for this mansion. Therefore, I have the right to know everything happening here.”

Though young, I was a child of the Marsen family.

I frowned with frustration, and a young man working in the stable spoke.

“……A woman came.”

“A woman?”

“Yes. She said she had business with the master.”

A woman who would visit the Marsen family?

Visitors to the mansion must send a letter with greetings and reasons for the visit beforehand. It’s tradition and etiquette.

But my parents were at my grandfather’s mansion now. If someone had planned to visit the Marsen mansion, Isabel would have told me earlier. So the woman who came here was an unexpected and seemingly nonnoble visitor.

“Did you recognize her?”

“That’s…….”

Most of the Marsen’s servants had worked here for more than ten years. If it wasn’t an ordinary guest, there was a good chance they would know.

“Please tell me properly.”

“It was suspicious.”

“Specifically, what?”

“She kept pleading to see the master once. When we refused, she eventually threw a tantrum.”

A suspicious woman came looking for my father?

“Tell me in more detail.”

“……Well, ah.”

Rain suddenly dripped on my cheek. As I looked up, the grey clouds had covered the sky, blocking the sun.

“Oh my, I just hung out the laundry!”

“I left my horse out in a hurry……!”

Though the rain wasn’t pouring yet, the servants hurriedly dispersed to their respective duties.

“……Is this a joke?”

Who came to visit that everyone is avoiding me?

As I stood still at the gate, I felt a strange gaze from behind. Startled, I turned around, but unlike the sensation, no one was there.

‘What’s going on?’

Someone was watching me. I squinted, staring where I had felt the gaze, but again, there was nothing.

The rain that had been falling drop by drop was now pouring down like rods. I finally gave up on the tree I had been obsessively staring at. I had to get inside the mansion before my dress got dirty.